The Colthood of Steel Wing

Chapter I: The Hospital

A dark gray stallion paced impatiently and nervously back and forth in a waiting room situated in the Stalliongrad Union's Hospital. His wings fluttered like thumping rabbit feet at the tips, tapping his cutie mark, a white helmet, on his muscular flank. All around, nurses were trotting by with casual ease, completely oblivious to the chaos going through the stallion's head. After trying for a year, he had finally managed to conceive a child. When he found out from his wife, who was currently down the hall giving birth, he was overwhelmed with such joy, he flew across the skies of Stalliongrad, yelling out, "I'm gonna' be a dad!"

A teenage colt and a filly sat in lounge chairs, the former giving off an air nonchalance as he leaned his cheek on a hoof, even though his mother, the stallion's wife, was giving birth just down the porcelain-white hall, while the latter's golden eyes followed the stallion's pacing. The colt, a unicorn, had a pure white coat, neon-green mane and tail colors, and dark green eyes. He had a cutie mark of a trio of orbs, each one colored a red, green, and blue. The filly, an earth pony, had a cocoa brown coat, a trait she shared with her mother, and her long mane and tail were a saturated cream hue. The filly had yet to gain her cutie mark.

After what seemed like an eternity, the filly broke the silence. "Will you please stop pacing like that?" This seemed to snap the stallion out of his trance, and he looked over at the filly. "It's beginning to make me nervous and want to pace," she said tiredly.

The stallion, Iron Wing, ran a hoof through his dark brown mane, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, Sweet Root." Truth was, he lost track of time after about the second hour of pacing. In fact, if one were to look closely, one could see indentations in the tiled floor where the stallion's massive hooves trotted on. He went over and sat down next to her, placing an appreciative, and quite large hoof across her smaller shoulders.

"It's okay," Sweet Root said, smiling up at him. "I'm excited too. I mean, I'm getting a little sibling! Now I won't be the baby in the family anymore!" The filly started to giggle, and the stallion couldn't help but join in. The colt sitting beside her only rolled his eyes and looked off blankly in the other direction. Sweet nudged him playfully in the side. "C'mon, Neon! Aren't you excited?"

The colt named Neon looked at her blankly. "Why exactly should I be excited?"

"Because you're getting a little brother or sister! Who wouldn't be excited about that?"

Neon sighed. "Because the last time I got a new sibling, I got you, probably the lamest sister in Equestria."

Sweet's ears drooped and she turned her head away, her excitement and eagerness dashed and replaced with glumness. Iron Wing furrowed his brow at the cruel unicorn colt. "Be nice to your sister, Neon."

"You can't tell me what to do," Neon angrily replied, shrugging his head away. "You're not my dad..."

The pegasus closed his eyes and shook his head. It was true, he was not Neon's birth father, nor Sweet Root's, for that matter. No, they had been born to a different stallion, long before he met their mother, Leaf Wisp. Sweet Root had taken the transition fairly well, the two bonded rather quickly, probably because his presence filled the paternal hole she had when her birth father died. Neon, on the other hoof, was adamant to accept him as a father figure, something Iron Wing had tried to change ever since he married their mother. Obviously, though, to no avail. But he always hoped that that would change.

Maybe this new foal will win him over, Iron thought with some hope, though not enough to be convincing. He looked down at Sweet Root and saw she was still pouting from Neon's remark about her being a lame sister. Iron thought about what he could do to change that face of hers.

"So, Sweet," he started, gaining the brown filly's attention when her ears perk up, "what are you going to do with the new foal once it's home?"

Sweet tapped her chin thoughtfully as she contemplated the answer. "Well, the first thing would probably be giving it a full tour of where we live."

Iron tilted his head. "Of our house?"

"Of all of Stalliongrad!" Sweet exclaimed. "I could show it all the neat candy stores, the parks, the Volgait River, town hall, my school, Neon's school... and then our house!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Sweet! It hasn't even been born yet, and you're talking about showing a newborn foal all around a city as big as Stalliongrad right out of the hospital?"

Sweet tilted her head innocently. "Is that not good?" Her ears drooped again.

Iron bit his lip. "I-It's not that it's bad, or anything like that, Sweet Root, but a newborn needs to rest for the first few months of their lives. When they leave the hospital, they need to be home for a while in order to grow more. Which means the only thing that foal is going to be doing once we get home is sleep and eat most of the day for a few months."

The pegasus gave her an affectionate shake with his hoof across her shoulders. "But you can do all that once it starts to be more awake and active. And we," he cast a glance at Neon, "are going to help you do just that. Deal?"

Sweet gave a wide grin. "Deal!"

Neon gave an annoyed groan where he sat.

After about another hour of waiting, a nurse, wearing only a white cap on her equally white coat, trotted up to Iron Wing. "Excuse me, sir?" Iron looked at her. "It's done."

Iron Wing nearly bolted out of his seat and flew down the hall to the room where his wife had finally given birth, but stopped himself to make sure of the two kids at his side. "You two coming?" Sweet Root's automatic spring from her seat and excited expression gave Iron the only answer he needed out of her. Neon was more sluggish to respond, though eventually slopped out of his seat and followed Iron Wing and the nurse down the hall, Sweet jumping around in front of all of them.

Iron's thought's were a hurricane now. Filly or colt? Healthy or sick? Oh please be healthy. Is he or she going to be an earth pony like Leaf, or a pegasus like its old man. I hope Leaf's alright. What if— He almost stopped dead in his tracks. What if it's twins?! But he shook his head. No, no, Leaf's stomach wasn't nearly as big for it be more than one foal. Yeah, just one foal. My son or daughter. He smiled, though his wings still fluttered nervously. Why that was, he didn't know. Wings were odd, even to pegasi themselves.

The nurse led them to a door on the left flank of the hall. Iron entered first, but Neon stayed at the door when he saw Sweet still jumping bubbly down the hall, oblivious of where the nurse was leading them. He wanted to let her go, to let her get lost in the hospital's identical multitude of hallways... but he'd be in for an earful once his mother found out, regardless if she had just given birth. Neon shivered at the thought of her unnaturally loud tone when she got angry. So, with a little bit of reluctance, he called out to his younger sibling.

"It's in here, doofus."

Sweet halted her jumps and turned around with a sheepish smile, then galloped as fast as her tiny legs could gallop. She rushed right past Neon, who gave another irritated groan and roll of the eyes. He followed after her.

In the room, there was a single bed, with a single light illuminating it from above. The bed itself had a number done on it, but it was still nothing compared to the mare that was laying in it. Her coat was a cocoa brown, like her daughter's, but her mane was more of a lemon yellow, and it was drenched from hours of labor sweats. But it was worth it in the end, because she held, in the crook of her forelegs, a little bundle of joy. Leaf Wisp smiled at the newborn, her blue eyes half-closed from the exhaustion of the labor process, but she wanted to show her husband and two children her third child.

"I'll give you all some privacy," said the nurse.

"Spasibo (Thank you)," Iron replied.

The nurse smiled and replied, "Pozhaluysta (You're welcome)," then stepped out to give the family some privacy, and Iron Wing went to his loving wife and kissed her forehead tenderly, noting the large amount of accumulated sweat. The mare smiled, then brought a hoof up to his head and pulled him in for a kiss. The other two foals gagged slightly at the sight, neither of them enjoying such a display of affection, even from their own parents. Well, parent and stepparent, at any rate.

After a few seconds, they couple pulled apart and looked into each other's eyes, then Leaf looked down at the bundle of blankets. "Meet your son." She pulled away the fabrics revealing the couple's new child. A tear escaped Iron Wing's left eye, which he didn't try to conceal at all, as he saw his son for the first time.

"My son..." He brought a hoof up to the foal, allowing him to grab onto it with his tiny hooves and hold on as tightly as his little body could allow.

What is this big thing? It's not as big as the other thing, but it's letting me hold it. I like this new thing.

The colt giggled as he played with his father's hoof. Iron's heart did flips and spins as he watched. Leaf nuzzled her muzzle into her husband's thick neck. "That's right. Steel Wing, your son."

Iron's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He looked at his wife, who only gave a sly smile in return while the colt began to softly jab his little hooves at Iron's still-extended one. "'Steel Wing'? But I though that if it was going to be a colt, we'd name it after your father."

The mother cast her gaze back at the foal, brushing his little tuft of mane with a hoof. It was a while before she answered, "True, but... he looks more like you than my father." It was true. The newborn's coat was a lighter grey than his fathers, more silvery, and his deep black mane was much more similar to Iron's brown than Leaf's father's pink. His eyes were a deep sapphire, like his mother's. The mother then turned the foal slightly to the side, interrupting the colt's playtime with his father's hoof, but allowing Iron to see something amazing.

The colt had wings! Small, silver wings! He was pegasus, just like his dad! Oh, this filled the grown pegasus with more ecstasy than he thought possible. A wide grin grew on his face as he observed their structures.

"Look at those!" Iron gleefully whispered, trying not to be too loud. "Those things look like they can already knock away thunderclouds."

Leaf swatted a weak hoof at her husband's shoulder. "Hey, you better not go sign up my baby for weather patrol. Or else, maybe you want to stop having those... late night safaris." She cooed, hinting at her husband's kinky interests in the bedroom. Iron flushed furiously.

"Oh sweet Celestia..." Neon groaned from where he and his sister stood by the door.

Leaf tilted her head towards her eldest son. "What?"

"You two do realize our walls in the house aren't sound-proof, right? I can hear almost everything that's going on in your room during your 'late night safaris'."

Now the both of them flushed furiously.

"I can hear those things too!" Sweet Root added. "Mommy, what's a—"

"Kids!" Leaf interrupted, desperately trying to change the subject. "Come meet your new baby brother!"

Sweet completely forgot about the question. "A brother?! Woohoo!" Sweet promptly dashed to the side of the bed opposite her stepfather, looking curiously at the newborn. Neon followed less energetically, looking at the new foal with a look of indifference. "What's his name?"

"Steel Wing," Leaf said.

Sweet tilted her head. "'Steel Wing'? That's cool! That's kinda like your name, Dad!"

Iron smiled at his stepdaughter. "That's right, Sweet." He looked back down at his son, who looked back with out-stretched forelegs.

Where's the big thing? Where'd it go? I want it back!

Iron returned his hoof to the foal, who happily grabs a hold of it and begins to squeeze and pound at it with his tiny little hooves. The parents' smiles grew wider as they leaned their heads onto each others, watching their son.

Sweet Root chirped, "Dobro pozhalovat' v sem'yu (Welcome to the family), Steel Wing!"